Elizabeth I of England
| religion= | birth= | death= | cause of death= | occupation=Monarch, | political office= of England}} | spouse=None | children=None | house=Tudor | parents =Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn |family=Mary I (half-sister); Mary Queen of Scots (cousin) James I (cousin) |house = Tudor}} (1558-1588; restored in 1598) }} Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was the Queen of England from 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the second daughter of Henry VIII. She ascended to the throne in 1558 upon the death of her older half-sister, "Bloody" Mary. A Protestant, Elizabeth made that religion the official state religion of England, as it had been under her father and younger brother, Edward VI; Catholicism had been the state religion under Mary. Elizabeth also persecuted Catholics in much the same way her sister persecuted Protestants. For these reasons, she was excommunicated by Pope Pius V in 1570. In 1585, she involved England in a proxy war against Spain by supporting the Netherlands in their rebellion against Spanish colonialism. The war with Spain would drag on for the rest of her reign and beyond, and would include Spanish support for Irish resistance to English colonialism; but the moment of maximum danger passed when the Royal Navy defeated Spain's Armada in the English Channel in the summer of 1588. Elizabeth died in 1603 without having produced an heir. The Tudor dynasty, which had produced five monarchs over 118 years, died with her, and the Stuart dynasty began when James VI of Scotland, the great-grandson of Elizabeth's aunt (and son of Mary Queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth had ordered beheaded in 1587) inherited the English throne as James I. Elizabeth I in Ruled Britannia Elizabeth's entire reign was marked by tense diplomatic relations with Spain. Knowing her nation would most likely lose in a war against its much stronger enemy, Elizabeth, with the assistance of her counselor, William Cecil, avoided a war as she could, but her support for Protestant rebels in the Spanish colony of the Netherlands forced the issue. In 1588, King Philip II of Spain launched the Spanish Armada, a massive fleet of 138 warships, against England. The Armada defeated the English fleet and landed its armies on England's shores. The Spaniards easily defeated the amateur English army, and Elizabeth was soon overthrown. Philip's daughter Isabella was made Queen of England. Philip ordered that Elizabeth be imprisoned in the Tower of London, saying "Though she herself slew a queen, I shall not stoop to do likewise."Ruled Britannia, pg. 6. Elizabeth remained in the Tower for 10 years before a plot set in motion by Cecil and executed by his son, Robert, expelled the Spanish and restored Elizabeth to the throne. Id., at 375-409, generally. She became exceedingly grateful to English playwright William Shakespeare for glorifying her in his play Boudicca. She granted him knighthood; patronage for his acting troupe formerly Lord Westmorland's Men and afterward known as The Queen's Men; a divorce from his wife, Anne Hathaway; the parole of Lope de Vega; permission to perform ''King Philip''; and a substantial monetary reward despite the depleted state of her treasury.Id. at 441-445, generally. Elizabeth I in "The Yorkshire Mammoth" The woolly rhinoceros went extinct in England during reign of either Elizabeth I or James I at the latest.Clarkesworld, #155. See Also *References to Historical Figures in Turtledove's Work for more minor references to Elizabeth. *Elizabeth I at the Eric Flint Wiki References Category:Pretenders (Fictional Work) Category:Pretenders to the French Throne (OTL) Category:Prisoners Category:Tudors Category:Would-Be Assassinations (OTL)